DEVELOPMENT REFORMS HAVE TOO MANY LIMITS

B.C. policy has holes that can thwart housing goals, says Alex Hemingway.

The long reign of exclusionary single-family zoning is being challenged in B.C. — and none too soon amid a severe housing shortage.

The provincial government has unveiled major pieces of housing legislation in recent months, including a policy requiring cities to allow multiplexes with three to six homes on the huge portions of land where they have long blocked all but single-family houses.

According to modelling carried out by independent experts, this provincial multiplex policy could enable the completion of more than 130,000 badly needed new homes over 10 years, which would contribute to easing ultra-low vacancy rates and rising rents.

To achieve this level of housing creation, however, all cities would need to meet or exceed new provincial standards in their updated zoning rules. But the City of Vancouver is set to become a major wrench in the works as its own multiplex policy falls far short of those standards.

A key fact has gone largely unnoticed about the provincial multiplex legislation: It applies only to areas currently restricted to single-family and duplex housing. As a result, much of Vancouver isn't affected since the city had introduced its own (much weaker) multiplex policy a few months prior.

While it does allow multiplexes, Vancouver's policy severely limits total housing floor space permitted for each project, adding only 16 per cent to the “floor area ratio” over the previous zoning. This undermines the viability of many potential multiplex projects, and city staff project that only 150 multiplexes will be built per year.

Vancouver's policy is far more restrictive than the provincial government standards, which would allow 50 per cent to 80 per cent more floor space and enable the creation of far more homes.

In fact, if Vancouver doesn't amend its multiplex policy to meet provincial standards, about 30,000 net new homes projected to be created under the provincial rules won't actually get built, according to modelling commissioned by the B.C. government.

Moreover, this “Vancouver problem” could be compounded if other municipalities also use wiggle room in the legislation to attempt to sidestep its spirit and intention.

While B.C. municipalities must update their zoning bylaws to reflect the provincial legislation (by the end of June 2024), many of the new provincial standards are not strictly binding. This includes the crucial question of how much additional housing floor space will be allowed on a given lot. Instead, these provincial standards are provided to municipalities in a policy manual as “expectations” and “guidelines.” Under the legislation, cities must “consider” these guidelines that are not strictly binding even outside Vancouver.

Given the track record of cities in adopting restrictive and exclusionary zoning policies, this light touch approach to provincial regulation is concerning. If cities don't step up their game, the province ought not to sit on the sidelines. Instead, the government could implement its standards as a binding “alternative minimum zoning” that would apply wherever cities fail to meet these standards in their bylaws. Ironically, this is how the media and public likely already expect the new provincial rules to work.

Challenges could also arise for the province's other big new zoning reform law on transit-oriented development (within 800 metres of rapid transit stations like SkyTrain).

While a major and welcome step, it's also not direct provincial upzoning. Rather, the law means that cities cannot reject rezoning applications based solely on height and density for housing in these areas (if they are within provincially specified standards).

However, cities can still impose other requirements on the rezonings and that latitude could be used by a motivated municipality to undermine the viability of new housing (unfortunately a long-standing practice).

Ultimately, the new provincial legislation represents only a first step in dismantling exclusionary zoning and addressing housing shortages.

To catch up after decades of underbuilding, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) estimates that B.C. needs to build 610,000 more homes by 2030 above current trends, consistent with findings of independent analysts.

Even with robust implementation at the municipal level, the provincial multiplex and transit-oriented development reforms combined are projected to create about 250,000 new homes over 10 years. This is significant and — if achieved — would put a meaningful dent into addressing the need identified by CMHC.

But it still doesn't get us where we need to be. The province should expand its action on zoning reform.

Another key step would be provincewide zoning reform specifically for non-market housing. For example, the province (or indeed any city) could pre-approve non-profit and public housing providers to build apartments at double or triple the standard densities in a given area.

To be sure, zoning reform is only one part of addressing the housing crisis.

We urgently need a massive build-out of non-market housing (well-funded by government).

But dismantling exclusionary zoning is a key step to tackling the housing shortage, creating equitable access to our cities and reducing exclusion and displacement amid housing scarcity.

While it does allow multiplexes, Vancouver's policy severely limits total housing floor space.